SHIPPING CHEESE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 103, 24 January 1918, Page 8

SHIPPING CHEESE

GRADING AND STORING THE PRODUCE WELLINGTON FACILITIES At last evening's meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board the chairman (Jh-. G. J". Danielh pieseiitcd the following report — "L''o.- si mo .yeais there was a growing (lenian-1 for better facilities for grading Mid storing produce awaiting shipment, and after a good deal of discussion ,ind cor.sirleration, the board early in IS)]"2 diieoted th%t"a site snitabla fo, - tha erection of a building for tho stofJiga of dairy produce be selected near the (>!.uguw Whan", nnd capable of oeing connecti?u with the Government railway system/ so that the produce, whether rail or sea borne, could be economical!;;- handled. Plans were* preoared for a permanent building to itcconr.nnrifite soi;'e 25,00'.) crates, but no provision v. as made for artificial cooliug. Thij building was complete:] ear'.v in 1913, was immediately put to ait;, aii.l' during the season was wolfed to its utmost capacity. In 1914 the nu.ttu of increa&insi the storage cfipaouv of the cheese store building, Mild providing cooliug machinery was considered b.? .the board, and a confcrciici:, instigated by the Agricul-. turd Uepartmem, at which the factory owners, tlio bear'), and the Department were represented, was held to discuss vat proposals

• ''The Agricultural Department arranged t'nio ali cheese graded and shipped at Wellington should bo passed through the sioru. and the board therefore resolved to have plans prepared mid tenders cnllr.l for an addition to the building comprising three floors, and for ctoimpr machinery capable of cooling down 30(, tons of cheese per ( day and holding MOO tons at a tomperaturo of 45 degrees. The addition was ccmjili'tcri in 1016, but the cooling plant was not, owing to war conditions, available till October, 11917. Both s'.ore« wu , !. , fully occupied during the 19l!>-17 season, and in addition, owing to war conditions, a largo quantity of chce. : o was stored in tho ordinary wharf sheds; in consequence, of which a rieinaMi arose for further accommodation t') be available, for the 1917-18 season. The board therefore directed that plans of a building to accommodate an additional 50,000 crat-js be prepami Tt was found to bo impossible t<> build other than a temporary structuio in the time available, and '.lit board, after consideration decided to meet a temporary addition a'j an approximate cost of £6501, provided tlsat they wero repaid •ono-liiilf r>f this amount. Tho matter was placed bt.f.ire the Prime Minister and also a committee.representing the prod,iCP(. - s. ant', it, was finally arranged that the Government should provide £32.j0 towards tlie cost of tho building, to be rqwiid by a surcharge on the cli('o>.3 stor.-jl. The building was completed in December, and at oncn put into u;e. Provision is made for 'cooling .by told air drawn from the battery jn Uio adjoining building "The total accommodation now provided amounts to 110,000 crates or over 0000 toii3 (already this season 90,000 crates have been in storo at one- timo). The cooling machinery consists of two double-acting compressors each driven by a 75 h.p. direct, current motor, with current obtained from the. City Corporation; pumps which deliver sea water over tho condensers, and two fans which force the air through the .batteries in the buildings and distribute it to the various sections. . Tho machinery orginally provided was intended for the brick buildings, and to provide sufficient cold air for the temporary building the engineer has so aitered the method and design as to meet the emergency -with satisfactory results. For handling cheese in the store four electric elevators and ibur electrio stackers arc provided. "All the grading of Wellington choose is undertaken"in the cool stores; this involves a large amount of work in separating and dealing with tho various consignments and requires a considerable amount of floor snace. So far the handling of tho cheese from the store to tho ship is done principally by hand-trucks, hut an experimental electrically-driven truck, which has been in operation for some time, is doing very good work. Development ■ in this direction will enable the chee&e to be-better and more roadily handled.

"Tho cost of the buildings and equipment to 'lite, apart from value of site, is £46,000. The success attending this effort of the Harbour Roard to care for tho perishable products of many factories is gratifying. A meed of praise is due to the officers of the hoard for their enthusiasm in striving to produce the best' possible result under difficult conditions. Tho storo is a picture of orderly care, and when it is realised that from £600,000 to £700,000 worth of cheese is to-day in store, and that responsible officers stated that a year ago a like quantity deprecated to the extent of £20,000 for want of proper oare, such as is now possible, the importance of %> board's cheese store will be apparent." Mr. R. Fletcher said the hoard could be congratulated on what it had ' done in this matter.

Mr. J. 0. Harkness said he had always been confident that this would be a good proposition for the board. A few years ago 25,0(10 to 30.000 tons of cheese was exoorted from New Zenland. To-day the ■figures were 45.000 to 50.000 tons, and that quantity would not be reduced, for New Zealand ■was going to become a cheesc-produc-irip: country, and Wellington, would bo the chief port for the handling of the commodity.